NORRISTOWN, PA. - Surrounded by a throng of reporters, photographers and TV cameras, four Pennsylvania same-sex couples on Wednesday applied for marriage licenses in Montgomery County, one day after the Register of Wills there said he would buck state law and issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Another couple became what is believed to be the first same-sex couple to be married in Pennsylvania, after they applied for their license, held a short ceremony and filed their license with the county.

Alicia Terrizzi, 45, said that she and Loreen Bloodgood have been together for 17 years and wanted to take the opportunity offered by Montgomery County officials. "We've been waiting a long time for this," Terrizzi told the Associated Press. "We're not setting out to be pioneers. We don't think our family is any different than anybody else."

One by one, as the couples met with the court clerk to fill out the application and affirm their personal information, applause broke out in the room packed with court and county employees, including officials and commissioners.

“Thanks to our progressive legislators here, our commissioners… who have recognized the importance of recognizing individuals who love each other and have been committed for years and should have the same rights and equality that the rest of the world does,” said Ellen Toplin, 60, who along with girlfriend of 22 years, Charlene Kurland, 69, applied for a marriage license.

The Upper Dublin couple said they have long enjoyed equality among family and friends, but had missed out on equal rights under the law.

“Of course the country is turning but Pennsylvania, unfortunately, we do lag behind,” Toplin said. “I understand we have conservative territory between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia but people aren’t as conservative as legislators are, is my belief and what statistics and surveys bear out. I hope our legislators realize and catch up to things.”

It is not clear whether the licenses have legal standing under state law.

“I feel great. I feel honored,” said Craig Andrussier, the Landsdale minister who married Terrizzi and Bloodgood. “This is an open door right now. Hopefully the rest of the state will open their eyes and minds and see that these are two people in love. If they want to spend their life together, there shouldn’t be a tag or label put on them. Basically anybody should have the opportunity and option to get married. I’m glad to be a part of it.”

James Goldstein, who applied for a license to wed boyfriend Marcus Saitschenko, said he felt great being able to walk into the court office.

“I’m feeling like more of a full citizen,” said Goldstein, who like Saitschenko is 52 and from Philadelphia.

Saitschenko said that they had been together for so long, he would not care if the state, in the end, invalidated his marriage.

“We consider ourselves married regardless of whether the state recognizes it, he said. “We’re hopeful that the state will recognize it.”

The couple has been together 22 years. Goldstein said they are prepared to file a lawsuit in the event the marriage is nullified – and will move out of the state.

The court has waived the three-day waiting period for the licenses to be legal. Couples have 60 days in which to marry before the licenses expire and they have to reapply.

Nicola Cucinotta, 45, and Tamara Davis, 45, of Chester County, said they would get married on Wednesday if they could.

The couple, who has been together three years and has three children, was turned away from Chester County.

Cucinotta said that in the wake of June’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s ban on gay marriage, they were prepared to protest the state Capitol to urge lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage.

Cucinotta said she was concerned the eventual marriage would be invalidated down the road.

“I care,” she said. “I want it to be legal. We don’t want to be discriminated against any longer.”

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 23 plaintiffs seeking to overturn the state's Defense of Marriage Act and force the state to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.

None of the couples who filed for licenses on Wednesday are plaintiffs in the Whitewood v. Corbett lawsuit. The lawsuit names Gov. Tom Corbett and Attorney General Kathleen Kane among the defendants. Kane said she will not defend the state's marriage statute.

Toplin and Kurland plan to marry two weekends from now, when family members arrive in town.

They plan to be married by a Philadelphia judge.

“We know it’s not legal in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Toplin, a retired marketing executive. “We can only hope that the Legislators will finally get in step with the populace across Pennsylvania, which overwhelmingly supports the rights of gay and lesbian individuals to tie the knot together and live their lives in a recognized union. We hope the legislators step up to the plate and start representing the people rather than their own interests.”

Bruce Hanes, the Register of Wills, said he was upholding the state Constitution in issuing the licenses.

“I feel very happy as a matter of fact,” he said. “It is historic. It is progress. The arc of progress is always upward. Maybe I’m a part of that. I think I’m on the right side of history. I believe I’m on the right side of the constitution and the law.”

Hanes, a Democrat who was elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011, said he believes the debate over gay marriage will eventually be a non-issue.

“I think if you come into my office three four years from now, you will say what was this all about,” said Hanes, whose office swarmed all day with reporters and photographers. “We will be talking about what a non-issue it was.”

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